Sickle-bar



me Moda.) 2 sheets-sheet 1.

J. SMITH.

SIGKLB BAR.

No. 551,236. Patented Deo. 10, 1895.

NVENTOH ATTORNEYS.

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet` 2.

J. SMITH.

SIGKLE BAR.

No. 551,235. Patented Deo. I0, 1895.

llllllll W/TNESSES.' NVENTOH /7 www@ TTH/VEYS.

NiTEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES SMITH, OF GRANITE CAON, IVYOMING.

SlCKLE-BAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551,236, dated December 10, 1895.

Application filed JanuaryZG, 1895. Serial No. 536,308. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES SMITH, of Granite Canon, in the county of Laramie and State of Vyoming, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sickle-Bars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in sickle or cutter bars for mowers; and it has for its object to so construct the cutter or sickle bar as to materially lighten the draft in mowing grass and harvesting grain.

Another; object of this invention is to so construct the bar that it may be used as well for trimming hedges as for cutting grass.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a plan view of the improved sickle-bar. Fig. 2 is an end view thereof. Fig. 3 is a front elevation. Fig. 4 is a hori- Zontal section taken through the cutter-bar. Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of the sickle-bar.

In carrying out the invention the fingerbar A is provided with the usual guards l0, and the front of the said iinger-bar is scalloped or rendered undulating, a guard being located at the apex of each scallop-section. rihe linger-bar is provided upon its upper surface with a depression forming a pocket 1l, the said pocket or depression extending longitudinally and transversely a maj or portion of the bar, and in this pocket l1 a pad 12 is placed, made of an absorbent material, the said pad being adapted to be kept moist with a lubricating liquid.

One end of the finger-bar A is secured in a shoe B, the said shoe being adapted to be located next to the machine or truck to which the team is attached, and the opposite end of the nger-bar is secured to a parallel shoe B. The inner shoe B is fitted with trunnions 13 at its ends whereby it is journaled in suit able bearings upon the truck of vthe mower,

and the finger-bar is raised and lowered by connecting suitable levers on the truck with, for example, an eye 14 placed upon the inner shoe, as shown in the drawings.

The cutter-bar C is mounted upon the iinger-bar A, and, as shown especially in Fig. 5, the cutter-bar consists of a lower plate-section l5, which rests upon the iinger-bar, an upper plate-section 16 and a front section 17 connecting the upper and lower plate-sections, together with suitable standards ortieplates 18, connecting the upper and lower plates at the back, the tie-plates beingplaced at suitable distances apart. The front plate 17 of the cutter-bar is made undulating or scalloped to correspond to the front contour of the nger-bar, as shown in Fig. l. The front plate of the cutter-bar is provided with a longitudinal opening 19, which extends practically from one shoe to the other. The cutter-bar is pivoted or fulcrumed at the lower edge of its rear portion in the said shoes, as shown at 2O in Fig. 5, and in the top plate 16 of the cutter-bar a depression or pocket 2l is formed, extending longitudinally and transversely, adapted to receive a pad 22 of an absorbent material corresponding to the lower pad 12, and this pocket is covered by means of a cap-plate 23, which extends from end lto end of the cutter-bar, and from front to rear.

The cutter-bar is held horizontally upon the linger-bar preferably through the medium of a spring-latch 24; located in the outer shoe B', as shown in Fig. 6, together with a latch 25, fulcrumed upon the outer portion of the inner face of the inner shoe B, and the said latch is made to extend over the inner end portion of the cutter-bar and is held normally in clamping engagement with said bar by means of a catch 26, and the catch 26 is preferably provided with a guard-plate 27, extending upwardly from the latch, being adapted to shield the driving mechanism of the cutters of the cutter-bar.

In the forward portion of the cutter-bar a line of vertical shafts or spindles 2S is journaled, and the said spindles or shafts 28 are located opposite the apexes or points in the front portion of the bar, as shown best in Fig. 4, and at the rear of the first line of spindles IOO or shafts 28 a second line of spindles or shafts 29 is journaled in the said cutter-bar, the rear line of shafts 29 beingbetween the front line 2S as well as to the rear of them. lt will be understood that the shafts or spindles extend through the top and bottom plate-seetions of the cutter-bar, being kept constantly lubricated through the medium of the pads l2 and 22 saturated with a lubricating compound, as shown in Fig. 5.

Upon each shaft 2S and 29 a disk cutter is mounted, the said disk cutters being designated in the drawings as 30, and preferably all of the said cutters are provided with notches or recesses in their periphery, whereby said periphery is made up of series of wide teeth.

The disk cutters in the front row overlap those in the rear row 5 but while the front and rear cutters are made to revolve quite close together they do not touch one another, and thus are prevented from becoming heated. The cutters are likewise adapted to travel in opposite directions-that is, the front row of cutters will travel to the right and the rear row to the left. The front cutters are raised above the rear cutters, and the said front cutters are ground or sharpened upon their upper edges, while the lower or rear cutters are ground upon their lower edge Thus it will be observed that the cutters act with relation to each other in like manner as a pair of shears; but the friction present in a shear action is not present in the operation of the aforesaid cutters, since they are not actually brought in contact.

The cutters are preferably secured upon their spindles by forming square shoulders on the spindles and producing square openings in the cutters. Fach spindle 2S of the front row has a pinion 2C" secured thereon, and each spindle 2O of t-he rearI row is provided with a like pinion 29,

At the outer end of the cutter-bar, preferably somewhat near the'rear edge, a shaft is vertically journaled, carrying a sprocketgear Sla, and the shaft 3l simply extends through frein top to bottom of the cutter-bar, while at the opposite er inner end of the said cutter-bar a driveshaft 32 is journaled and extends well upward above the top of the capplate 23, being' provided within the cutterbar with a sprocket-gear .32, firmly secured thereon.

The two gears 3l and 32 carry an endless chain belt 33, and this chain belt likewise meshes with the teeth of all of the pinions of the front and of the rear row of cutter-shafts. Since the gear 3ln and shaft 3l at the outer end of the shoe occupy considerable room at this point, the outermost and last cutter will necessarilyT be smaller than the others, and therefore the gear upon that cutter-shaft 2S will be larger, as shown in Fig. i, in order to have all of the cutters move at the same speed, and, as illustrated in Fig. 6, the gear 3l will be cut away or grooved on its under face to permit the outermost forward cutter to be of the largest possible diameter.

The upper end of the shaft 32 is provided with two beveled gears Si and adjustable thereon. The gears face in opposite directions, one being located at the top and the other near the cap-plate 23, as shown in Fig. 2. Only one of these gears is brought into action at one and the same time. The lower gear 35 is held up to an engagement with a driving-gear 37 ,A preferably by means of a latch 3G, pivoted upon the cap-plate, the latch being made to loosely surround the shaft 32, and by an intervening washer hold the lower gear 35 up to working position. Then the latch is disengaged, the gear 35 is readily moved out of working position. The upper gea-r 3i is held upon the shaft either in working posit-ion or out of working position by means of pins, set-screws, or their equivalents. V

The gear 237 is mounted upon a suitable shaft placed at right angles to the vertical shaft 32 and j ournaled in a standard 3S, erected upon the cap-plate, and the rear end of the shaft upon which the gear is secured is provided with a sprocket-wheel 39, since a chain is employed for driving the cutters of the cutter-bar from the driving mechanism of the truck instead of the pitman ordinarily used, and the shaft on the truck employed to drive the chain, which is in driving connection with the sprocket-wheel 3D, is on a true line with the bearin gs on the foot of the machine, by which the bar is raised and lowered, and being thus on a line the raising and lowering will not affect or change the length of the chain even when carried to a perpendicular position, so that hedge fences may be trimmed and the machine may be immediately lowered to ont the grass.

l desire it to be distinct-ly understood that if in practice it is found desirable only the front line of cutters may be notched and the rear line may be made of plain disks.

The lower lubrica ting box or pocket l l may be readily iilled by releasing' the cutter-bar from its catches and throwing it bac-k on its hinges', exposing the said box, and at the same time the cap 223 may be removed from the cutter-bar and the upper box 22 be likewise replenished.

lt will be observed that by placing the shaft 3l and the gear llL in the cutter-bar, all of the cutter-gears will be acted upon alike by the driving-chain By reason of the shifting device shown in Fig. 2 the cutters will he revolved in one direction when the gear 37 is in mesh with the lower shifting-gear 35, and in the event the cutting-edges of one side of the teeth of the cutting-disks become dull, the edges at the opposite side et the teeth may be brought into action by simply dropping the lower gear 35 out of mesh with the driving-gear 37 and IOO IIO

bringing the upper gear into mesh with the said driving-gear.

It will be understood that the cutters may have plain peripheries, and also that a different form of reversing mechanism may be substitutedfor that shown in the drawings.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. In a sickle bar, a series of overlapping disk cutters, means for rotating adjacent cutters in opposite directions and means for reversing the direction of rotation of the cutters, whereby each of the alternate cutters is adapted to co-operate with either of the cutters between which it is located, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a sickle bar, disk cutters arranged in staggered order, adjoining cutters being made to overlap, the rear cutters being each arranged between pairs of front cutters, means for rotating the front and rear cutters in opposite directions, and means for reversing the rotation of the cutters, whereby the rear disks may each be caused to co-operate with either of the front disks between which it is located, substantially as shown and described.

3. ln a sickle bar, a series of disk cutters mounted to revolve over the guards of the bar, a rear series of cutters arranged between the forward cutters, the front and rear cutters overlapping, and each rear cutter being arranged toco-operate with either of the front cutters between which itis located, one set of cutters having their upper edges sharpened and the other set their lower edges, gears connected with the various cutters, and an endless driving belt operating the said gears, the gearing being so arranged that adjoining cutters will be revolved in opposite directions, as and for the purpose specified.

4,-. In a sickle bar, the combination with a linger bar, and the shoes to which said linger bar is secured of a cutter bar fulcrumed at its rear portion in the said shoes and adapted to rest upon the finger bar, and latches secured to the said shoes and adapted to engage with the cutter bar to hold it in position, substantially as described.

5. ln a sickle bar, the combination with a linger bar, and the shoes to which said linger bar is secured, of a cutter bar fulcrumed in the said shoes at the rear of the finger bar and resting on said linger bar, the said cuth ter bar being provided with a series of rotary cutters and a driving mechanism therefor,

and means for holding the said pivoted cutter bar in position on the linger bar, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, with a sickle bar and a guard and support therefor, of a series of disk cutters mounted to revolve over the guards of the said support, a second series of disk cutters located at the rear and between the forward series, the forward disk cutters being above the rear cutters and out of contact therewith, the several cutters being provided with toothed peripheries, the teeth having cutting edges on both sides, gears con nected with the various cutters, an endless driving belt connected with all of the gears, the gearing being so arranged that adjoining cutters will be revolvedin opposite directions, a driving mechanism connected with the driving belt, and mechanism, whereby the direction of rotation of the disks may be reversed, as and for the purpose set forth. Y

7. In a sickle bar, the combination, with a finger bar having a pocket in its upper face adapted to receive a lubricating material, of a cutter bar pivoted at the rear of the finger bar and resting thereon, the said cutter bar being provided with series of rotary cutters and a driving mechanism therefor, the spindles of the said cutters and driving mechanism extending from top to bottom of the cutter bar, the said cutter bar being provided upon its upper face with a receptacle for oil, and a cap covering the same, whereby the shafts in the cutter bar will be lubricated at top and bottom from the said receptacles or pockets, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with a linger bar having a pocket formed upon its upper face, and an absorbent material located in the pocket, of a cutter bar located over the finger bar and removable therefrom, the said cutter bar being provided with a series of rotary cutters and with a socket upon its upper face containing an absorbent material, the spindles of the cutters extending through to the absorbent material at the top of the cutter bar and at the top of the nger bar, an endless chain operating the disk cutters, a driving shaft operating the said chain, and means, substantially as shown and described, for rotating the driving shaft with a chain, as and for the purpose specified.

.l AMES SMITH.

'Vitnesses: Y

J. n. I-IURD, En. J. HURD.

IOO 

